KR20190000318A - System and method for gesture sensing - Google Patents

Abstract

According to some embodiments, a method for detecting a gesture is provided. The method includes the step of accessing a numeric sequence predefined in an application processor. The method further includes the step of receiving a verification sequence having the predefined number sequence of a predetermined number of iterations from a sensor of a sensor system. The method further includes the step of correlating the verification sequence with the predefined number sequence. The method further includes the step of counting the number of correlations between the predefined number sequence and verification sequence. The method further includes the step of adjusting parameters of the sensor or application processor in response to that the predetermined number of iterations is not equal to the number of correlations.

Description

[0001] SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GESTURE SENSING [0002]

The present invention relates generally to wearable devices, and more specifically to systems and methods for gesture detection.

A radar-based gesture detection system is an input interface that can be used to directly control a device such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet computer, or to control a remote device such as a vehicle, an electronic system in a building, or a home appliance. For example, when the remote device is an automobile, the gesture detection system allows a person to control various motions of the vehicle outside the car. Gesture detection can be used in many areas such as automotive (e.g., keyless entry, media control, etc.), industrial (e.g., machine control), object Internet (e.g. kitchen appliances, HVAC control, have. The user can interact with the gesture detection system by creating one or more gestures by hand.

Applications in the millimeter wave (mm wave) frequency band, such as the V-band, have received considerable interest in the past few years due to the rapid development of low cost semiconductor technology. Among other applications, radar based gesture detection systems can be implemented using mm wave techniques. The mm wave spectrum can have a wider available bandwidth, which may allow for better distance resolution in a touchless user interaction application.

According to one embodiment, a method of verifying a sensor system comprises the steps of: accessing a predefined numeric sequence in an application processor; determining, from a sensor of the sensor system, a predetermined number of iterations of the predefined number sequence Correlating the verification sequence with the predefined sequence of numbers; counting the number of correlations between the predefined sequence of numbers and the verification sequence; And adjusting parameters of the sensor or the application processor in response to the number of iterations not equal to the number of correlations.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
1 is a system diagram of a gesture detection system.
2 is a schematic diagram of an RF component of a gesture detection system.
3 is a block diagram of a processing component of a gesture sensor device.
4 is a block diagram of a processing component of an application processor.
5 is a flow chart of a method for verifying a gesture sensor.

The fabrication and use of embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed in detail below. It should be understood, however, that the concepts disclosed herein may be practiced in a variety of specific contexts, and that the specific embodiments discussed herein are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. It should also be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

A system and method for verifying operation of a gesture detection system in accordance with some embodiments is disclosed. Specifically, the gesture detection apparatus includes an RF / baseband circuit for performing gesture recognition, and includes a random number generator used for verifying operation of the gesture detection apparatus among other digital components. A random number generator generates a predetermined random or pseudorandom sequence. The random number sequence is generated, for example, with a linear feedback shift register. Unlike the sample of the gesture detection device, the random sequence is a priori known deterministic signal. The verification includes generating a pseudo-random number sequence at the gesture sensor device, and then transmitting the verification sequence to an application processor coupled to the gesture detection device for verification. The application processor coupled to the gesture detection device receives the random number sequence and determines whether the received pseudo-random number sequence matches the predetermined sequence. In various embodiments, the signal path over which the pseudo-random sequence is propagated uses the same hardware, firmware, and software pipelines (e.g., a data transmission pipeline) that are used to receive sensor samples from the gesture detection device. Among other things, verification of the data transmission pipeline can include examining the proper operation of the hardware device, checking proper operation of the firmware and / or software running on the device, and checking the physical connection between the devices have. In some embodiments, a copy of the random number sequence is stored in the application processor, and the application processor compares the received sequence with the stored sequence. The match of the numeric sequence represents the integrity of the data transmission pipeline, and the mismatch may indicate that a portion of the data transmission pipeline is negatively impacting the data transmission. Transmitting a known sequence allows information to be determined for the data transmission pipeline, as opposed to examining individual sensor samples that are not predefined values during normal operation. Validation of the data transmission pipeline may occur during a start or verify sequence, and verification indicates that the sensor sample sent to the application processor is the expected value. One or more parameters of the data transfer pipeline may be adjusted in response to a verification failure.

1 is a system diagram of a gesture detection system 100, which may be implemented as a user device, either partially or wholly. Because the device may be physically difficult to interact with, the user may interact with the device via a touchless interface. For example, the device may be a device with a small touch screen and / or without a button. Examples of such devices may include object Internet (IOT) devices such as sensors, wearable devices such as smart watches or fitness devices, and / or user devices such as smart phones or tablets.

The gesture detection system 100 has two components: a gesture sensor device 102 and an application processor 104 (both further described below). In operation, the position and gesture of the target 106 may be detected by the gesture detection system 100. For example, a gesture in which two fingers are tapped to each other can be interpreted as a "button press, " or a gesture that turns a thumb and a finger can be interpreted as turning a dial. The target 106 may be, for example, a hand, a body, or the like. The gesture sensor device 102 has a field of view 108 that characterizes the maximum detection range R1. The gesture made in the field of view 108 can be detected by the gesture sensor device 102. In some embodiments, the gesture detection system 100 may have a plurality of transmit and receive channels to implement a digital beamforming holographic radar such that the relative velocity, distance, and phase of the target 106 within the view 108 are measured. , A frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar sensor. Gesture sensor device 102 and application processor 104 may be separate devices or may be other components of the same device. In one embodiment, the gesture sensor device 102 and the application processor 104 are fabricated as part of the same integrated circuit (IC) die or formed on the same semiconductor substrate.

The gesture sensor device 102 transmits and receives a near field radio signal for detecting the target 106 in 3D space. The gesture sensor device 102 transmits an incoming RF signal (also referred to as a "chirp") and receives an RF signal (also referred to as an "echo") that is a reflection of an incoming RF signal from the target 106 . The beat frequency is determined from the incident RF signal and the reflected RF signal. The bit frequency signal may be used to determine information such as the position, velocity, angle, etc. of the target 106 in 3D space.

The application processor 104 performs one or more signal processing steps to acquire and evaluate a bit frequency signal. In one embodiment, the application processor 104 obtains a baseband signal representing a bit frequency signal via an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) in the gesture sensor device 102. The signal processing step includes performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT), target classification, machine learning, and the like. The result of the signal processing step is used to determine and perform an operation in the device. Further details of near field gesture recognition are described in U. S. Patent Application Serial No. 14 / 954,198, entitled " RF System with an RFIC and Antenna System, " which is incorporated herein by reference. Operation may be performed on the user equipment according to the evaluation result of the bit frequency signal. In some embodiments, the result may be used as a UI input. For example, when tracking fine finger movements, the direction and speed of fine finger movements can determine the direction and speed of document scrolling in the UI. In some embodiments, these results are used to open an application on a user device.

2 is a schematic diagram of an RF component of the gesture detection system 100. As shown in FIG. As shown, the gesture sensor device 102 transmits an incoming RF signal to a target 106 via a transmit antenna 202, and receives an RF signal reflected from the target 106 via a receive antenna 204 do. Gesture sensor device 102 includes a transmitter front end 206 coupled to transmit antenna 202 and a receiver front end 208 coupled to receive antenna 204. [

The transmitter front end 206 performs transmission of an incoming RF signal toward the target 106. The transmitter front end 206 includes filters, modulators, and the like for transmitting incident RF signals. Although two transmitter front ends 206 are shown and described, the gesture sensor apparatus 102 may have multiple transmitter front ends 206.

The receiver front end 208 receives and processes the reflected RF signal from the target 106. The receiver front end 208 includes a baseband filter, a demodulator, a variable gain amplifier (VGA), etc. to receive the reflected RF signal. It should be appreciated that while one receiver front end 208 is shown and described, the gesture sensor device 102 may have multiple receiver front ends 208.

In operation, the transmitter front end 206 transmits an incoming RF signal and the receiver front end 208 receives a reflected RF signal. The transmission and reception can be controlled by the radar circuit 210. The received reflected RF signal is filtered, amplified, and converted into an integrated device in the pipeline of the receiver front end 208. In particular, the received signal is downconverted from the original signal frequency to a baseband signal representing a lower bit frequency signal. The baseband signal is then provided to the application processor 104 to determine information about the target 106.

It should be noted that transmit antenna 202 and / or receive antenna 204 are shown as separate antennas, but may also be part of an array of antennas. In addition, transmit antenna 202 and receive antenna 204 may be separate antenna arrays or the same antenna array. In an embodiment where the same antenna array is used for both transmit and receive, the antenna in the array may be coupled to both the transmitter front end 206 and the receiver front end 208 in a coupling structure (not shown) have. The coupling structure may be implemented using a passive structure or switch such as a rat-race coupler, a Wilkinson power divider, a circulator, or the like. A more detailed description of the design and operation of the transmit and receive antennas 202 and 204 can be found in U. S. Patent Application Serial No. < RTI ID = 0.0 > 15, < / RTI > / 231,544, and therefore a detailed description of their operation will not be repeated here.

In some embodiments, some or all of the RF components of the gesture sensor device 102 may be coupled to the transmit antenna 202, the receive antenna 204, the transmitter front end 206, the receiver front end 208, and / (210). ≪ / RTI > In some embodiments, gesture sensor device 102 may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits disposed on a circuit board, and transmit antenna 202 and receive antenna 204 may be implemented on a circuit board adjacent to the integrated circuit . In some embodiments, a transmitter front end 206, a receiver front end 208, and a radar circuit 210 are formed on the same radar front end IC die. The transmit and receive antennas 202 and 204 may be part of a radar front end IC die or may be separate antennas on or adjacent to a radar front end IC die. The radar front end IC die may further include a conductive layer, such as a redistribution layer (RDL), which is used for the routing and / or implementation of various passive or active elements of the gesture sensor device 102. In one embodiment, transmit antenna 202 and receive antenna 204 may be implemented using the RDL of a radar front-end IC die.

3 is a block diagram of the processing components of the gesture sensor device 102. In FIG. Gesture sensor device 102 may be a highly integrated device such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that integrates devices that transmit RF signals and receive reflected RF signals, filter received signals, to be. Some or all of the devices in the gesture sensor device 102 may be formed as part of the same radar front end IC die. In operation, the gesture sensor device 102 outputs a digital sensor sample read by the application processor 104. The digital sensor sample is representative of a baseband signal corresponding to a lower beat frequency signal detected by the gesture sensor device 102 and is ready for processing by the application processor 104. The gesture sensor device 102 has an integrated function for evaluating the reflected RF signal so that the digital sensor sample generated thereby may be ready to be processed or evaluated by the application processor. The gesture sensor device 102 includes a master logic unit 302, an RF / baseband device 304, a digital interface 306, an ADC 308, a multiplexer 310, a first in first out (FIFO) memory 312, A random number generator 314, and combinations thereof, may partially or wholly implement the functionality of the radar circuit 210. [

Master logic unit 302 is the main processing pipeline for gesture sensor device 102. This includes functional units and / or circuits that perform a start-up sequence, calibrate and control the gesture sensor device 102, read RF signals from the target 106, and generate sensor samples. In some embodiments, master logic unit 302 is a finite state machine. In some embodiments, master logic unit 302 may be an MCU or microcontroller.

The RF / baseband device 304 includes a transmit antenna 202, a receive antenna 204, a transmitter front end 206, a receiver front end 208 and a radar circuit 210. RF / baseband device 304 may be a radar front end IC die (discussed above). Although shown as a single block in FIG. 3 for simplicity of the description, it should be understood that RF / baseband device 304 may include many devices and may be on the same IC as the other devices shown in FIG. 3 . Master logic unit 302 controls RF / baseband device 304 to switch it on / off.

The digital interface 306 outputs a readout for the gesture sensor device 102 and provides a digital interface for the external device to interact with the gesture sensor device 102. Target data from the gesture sensor device 102 may be transmitted via the digital interface 306 and read by, for example, the application processor 104. [ Digital interface 306 may be a serial interface, such as a (serial peripheral interface) bus, SPI or ^{I 2 C (inter-integrated circuit} ) interface. The digital interface 306 may implement a standardized interface such that a generic driver or firmware may be used by the application processor 104 to access the digital sensor samples. The operating parameters for the gesture sensor device 102 may be received via the digital interface 306. [ The operating parameters may include a clock rate for the digital interface 306, a sample buffering level, an interface configuration for the digital interface 306, and the like.

The ADC 308 converts the baseband signal from the RF / baseband device 304 into digital samples. The digital sensor sample corresponds to a lower frequency signal and is a time-domain representation of the signal reflections received by the receiver front end 208 after being downmixed to the baseband with a baseband filter. In some embodiments, the RF / baseband device 304 has multiple channels. For example, Figure 2 shows an RF / baseband device with two transmit channels and four receive channels. There may be an ADC for each receive channel of the RF / baseband device 304. The ADC 308 of each receive channel may add a prefix to the samples after conversion. The prefix represents the receive channel of the RF / baseband device 304 that generated the samples. The sampling rate of the ADC 308 is controlled by the master logic unit 302 and the ADC 308 starts collecting samples in response to the trigger signal from the master logic unit 302 and / Or stop.

Multiplexer 310 is coupled to ADC 308 and is used to select one of the receive channels. Samples from the ADC 308 of the selected receive channel are queued to be transmitted via the digital interface 306 by routing the output of the selected ADC 308 to the FIFO memory 312. At least one of the inputs of the multiplexer 310 is also coupled to the output of the random number generator 314 (described below) so that the value from the random number generator 314 can be transmitted via the digital interface 306. The master logic unit 302 may control the selected channel of the multiplexer 310.

The FIFO memory 312 can be used to store the sensor values from the selected ADC 308 and buffer the sensor readings. Values in the FIFO memory 312 may be used by the master logic unit 302 or may be output on the digital interface 306 and read by the application processor 104. [ The FIFO memory 312 has, for example, a circular queue in which the read pointer and the write pointer are successively incremented to implement the memory FIFO function. Alternatively, the FIFO memory 312 may be implemented using a cascaded register chain. Alternatively, other memory types other than FIFO memory, such as other volatile or nonvolatile storage elements, may be used instead of the FIFO memory 312. In embodiments where the memory is a volatile storage element, the memory may be, for example, a dual port memory having arbitration logic or a single port / multipage memory and may be implemented as, for example, SRAM, DRAM, The digital interface 306 may be an interface such as a SPI that is relatively slow compared to the sampling rate of the RF / baseband device 304 and the ADC 308. [ Thus, the digital interface 306 may output values that are slower than those sampled by the ADC 308. The FIFO memory 312 may have a relatively long queue of buffering sensor samples. In one embodiment, the FIFO memory 312 has a length of about 196608 bits. In another embodiment, the FIFO memory 312 may have any length.

The random number generator 314 is a random or pseudo random bit generator. The random number generator 314 generates a random but deterministic and a priori known number sequence. The random number sequence is periodic. The random number generator 314 may be implemented in various ways. In one embodiment, the random number generator 314 is a linear feedback shift register (LFSR). The LFSR may have any number of bits, and in one embodiment may have 11 bits or 12 bits. The random number generator 314 may generate a maximum length sequence (MLS), sometimes referred to as an M sequence, and may have a primitive polynomial as its characteristic polynomial. For example, an LFSR with taps at the 9th and 11th bits can generate an M sequence. The random number generator 314 may add a prefix to the value of the random number sequence, thus identifying the random number generator 314 as generating these numbers.

The random number generator 314 may have a length proportional to the size of the FIFO memory 312. In particular, the length of the random number sequence may be a multiple of the length of the FIFO memory 312. In one embodiment, the FIFO memory 312 has a length that is 96 times the period of the random number sequence. Thus, 96 copies of the random number sequence may be stored in the FIFO memory 312.

As described above, the data transmission pipeline of the gesture sensor device 102 may be verified during the verification sequence or the start sequence. In embodiments where the master logic unit 302 is a finite state machine, the verification or initiation sequence may be in the state of a finite state machine. The verification includes generating a random sequence at the gesture sensor device 102 and then transmitting it to the application processor 104 for verification. Among other things, verification of the data transmission pipeline includes a random number generator 314; A multiplexer 310; A FIFO memory 312; A digital interface 306; A master logic unit 302; Any firmware that may be executed on the gesture sensor device 102; A physical connection between the gesture sensor device 102 and the application processor 104; Any firmware or driver that may be executed on the application processor 104; Such as user level software, running on the application processor 104. < RTI ID = 0.0 > In other words, the term "data transfer pipeline" as used herein refers to the hardware, firmware, and software aspects of the gesture detection system 100 used to transfer sensor samples from the gesture sensor device 102 to the application processor 104 . Corruption of the sensor sample may occur at several possible points along the data transmission pipeline. The verification can ensure that the sensor samples received by the application processor 104 are accurate and undamaged. Transmitting a known sequence allows information about the status and content of the FIFO memory 312 to be determined, as compared to examining individual sensor samples that are not predefined values during normal operation.

During verification of the data transfer pipeline, the master logic unit 302 sets up the multiplexer 310 such that the ADC 308 is deselected and the random number generator 314 is selected instead. The setting of the multiplexer 310 may be performed, for example, in response to a command received via the digital interface 306 from the application processor 104. [ RF / baseband device 304 and / or ADC 308 may be turned off when a command is received. The random number generator 314 may be enabled to begin filling the FIFO memory 312 with a random number sequence. The digital interface 306 sends the contents of the FIFO memory 312 to the application processor 104, which verifies the numeric sequence. Most or all of the data transfer pipelines can be verified by the application processor 104 because the random number generator 314 is located at an early stage (e.g., before the multiplexer 310) of the data transfer pipeline.

4 is a block diagram of the processing components of the application processor 104. FIG. The application processor 104 may be a system-on-chip such as a master control unit (MCU), microcontroller, or the like. For example, a system-on-chip may be implemented using an ARM Cortex device. Alternatively, the application processor 104 may include a separate processor, memory, and the like. Although the devices of the application processor 104 are shown as separate blocks, some or all of these devices may be included on the same integrated circuit die or the same semiconductor substrate. The application processor 104 includes a bus 402 that may (or may not) interconnect the digital interface 404, the general purpose processor 406, the storage device 408, the memory 410 and the dedicated processor 412. [ .

The digital interface 404 communicates with the digital interface 306 of the gesture sensor device 102 above all. The digital interface 404 may be similar to the digital interface 306. For example, they may all be SPI devices communicatively coupled to the SPI bus.

The general purpose processor 406 is used to execute software for operating or controlling the application processor 104. The general purpose processor 406 may be configured to process sensor samples from the gesture sensor device 102 to determine information about the target 106. The general purpose processor 406 may also be configured to control features of the gesture sensor device 102, such as transmissions generated by the gesture sensor device 102, and may also select the mode of operation of the gesture sensor device 102 . In particular, the general purpose processor 406 may be configured to switch the gesture sensor device 102 to a verification sequence via the digital interface 404.

The storage device 408 stores a copy of the random number sequence known a priori. In some embodiments, the storage device 408 is a non-volatile storage device such as non-volatile memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), etc., and the random number sequence is stored in a non-volatile memory storage device. In some embodiments, the random number sequence is not stored as a numeric value; instead, the storage device 408 has instructions for generating a random number sequence. For example, the storage device 408 may be a random number generator similar to the random number generator 314 for generating a random number sequence, or may store software for generating a random number sequence.

Memory 410 may be a volatile memory used to execute software for operating or controlling application processor 104. [ The memory 410 may store the numeric sequence transmitted from the gesture sensor device 102 via the digital interfaces 306 and 404. In some embodiments, the value received from the gesture sensor device 102 during the verification sequence is stored in a specific or reserved portion or block of the memory 410. The particular or reserved portion of memory may be on the same memory module as that used by the remainder of the application processor 104 or on another memory module.

The dedicated processor 412 is a built-in processing element for evaluating a sensor sample or number sequence from the gesture sensor device 102. In one embodiment, the dedicated processor 412 is a different architecture or a different type of processor than a general purpose processor. In one embodiment, the dedicated processor 412 is a digital signal processor (DSP). The dedicated processor 412 may evaluate the sensor samples to determine information about the target 106 or perform some of the signal processing steps to verify the operation of the gesture sensor device 102. [ The dedicated processor 412 may share the memory 410 or may share its own dedicated memory.

When verifying the data transfer pipeline, the contents of the FIFO memory 312 are transferred to the application processor 104 via the digital interface 306. The application processor 104 compares the received numeric sequence with a numeric sequence stored in the storage device 408. If the received numeric sequence matches the stored numeric sequence, the data transmission pipeline can be verified and considered reliable. The comparison may be performed by the general purpose processor 406 and / or the dedicated processor 412 and may be accomplished using a variety of techniques. In one embodiment, the application processor 104 performs autocorrelation with the stored numeric sequence and the received numeric sequence. If the length of the random number sequence is a multiple of the length of the FIFO memory 312, the autocorrelation function result should have the same number of peaks as the multiples thereof. Continuing with the example above, when 96 copies of a random sequence are stored in the FIFO memory 312, the autocorrelation result with 96 peaks indicates that the data transmission pipeline is reliable. The application processor 104 may store an expected number of indications of the autocorrelation peak.

The verification may also include examining the prefix of the values of the random number sequence. As described above, the random number generator 314 and the ADC 308 can add a prefix. A prefix check allows the application processor to verify that the prefix has been correctly assigned and transmitted.

In some embodiments, verification may be performed by user level software on the application processor 104. Verification by user level software allows verification that the sensor samples are sent from the firmware or driver of the application processor 104 to the user level software without error.

After successful verification, the application processor 104 may switch the gesture sensor device 102 to a normal operating mode. In some embodiments, the operational parameters of the gesture sensor device 102 may be changed in response to a verification success or verification failure. If the autocorrelation result includes fewer peaks than expected, then several parameters can be adjusted to determine where the numeric sequence is corrupted along the data transmission pipeline. For example, the parameters for the FIFO memory 312 may be adjusted and the parameters for the digital interfaces 306 and 404, such as the maximum SPI clock rate, may be evaluated or adjusted. The verification sequence may be performed again. Additional adjustments may be made until the verification is passed. Likewise, if the verification first passes, the number or speed of the SPI channels may increase until the verification fails to determine the higher speed that can be used.

5 is a flow diagram of a method 500 for verifying a gesture sensor. The method 500 may represent an action that occurs on the application processor 104 when verifying the gesture sensor device 102.

The application processor accesses a predefined sequence of numbers (step 502). The predefined sequence of numbers may be a sequence of random numbers stored in storage device 408. A verification sequence is received from the gesture sensor device 102 (step 504). The verification sequence is a periodic sequence having a predetermined number of repetitions of the random number sequence. The expected number of iterations of the random number sequence may be stored in the application processor 104. A predefined sequence of numbers is correlated with the verification sequence (step 506). This correlation can be performed with an autocorrelation function. The number in which the predefined sequence of numbers is correlated with the verification sequence is counted (step 508). Each correlation can be indicated as a peak in the result of the autocorrelation function. If the number of peaks of the autocorrelation function result matches the expected number (step 510), the method 500 ends. Otherwise, the parameters of the gesture sensor are adjusted in response to the predetermined number of iterations being not equal to the number of times the predefined number sequence is correlated with the verification sequence (step 512).

Embodiments may benefit. Verifying the data transmission pipeline allows the clock speed or channel number of the digital interface to be optimized or at least improved so that a large number of sensor samples can be transmitted fast enough and reliably, depending on the number of RF couplets transmitted to the target. The firmware of the application processor can configure the gesture sensor device before use, so the firmware configuration can be verified through verification. The delay or jitter of the digital interface can be measured.

According to one embodiment, a method of verifying a sensor system comprises the steps of: accessing a predefined numeric sequence in an application processor; determining, from a sensor of the sensor system, a predetermined number of iterations of the predefined number sequence Correlating the verification sequence with the predefined sequence of numbers; counting the number of correlations between the predefined sequence of numbers and the verification sequence; And adjusting parameters of the sensor or the application processor in response to the number of iterations not equal to the number of correlations.

In some embodiments, correlating the verification sequence with the predefined numeric sequence comprises correlating the verification sequence and the predefined sequence of numbers with an autocorrelation function. In some embodiments, counting the number of correlations includes counting the number of peaks generated by the autocorrelation function. In some embodiments, the verification sequence is received from the sensor via a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus. In some embodiments, adjusting the parameter of the sensor or the application processor comprises adjusting an SPI bus parameter of the sensor. In some embodiments, adjusting the parameter of the sensor or the application processor comprises adjusting an SPI bus parameter of the application processor.

According to one embodiment, the sensor system comprises: a sensor configured to generate a predefined sequence of numbers and to transmit the predefined number sequence of a predetermined number of iterations over a digital interface; Defined number sequences of the predetermined number of repetitions, accessing a copy of the predefined sequence of numbers, and transmitting a copy of the predefined sequence of numbers to the predefined number sequence of predetermined number of iterations And an application processor for correlating the received signal with the received signal.

In some embodiments, the sensor includes an RF device configured to transmit an incident RF signal to a target and receive a reflected RF signal indicative of information about the gesture of the target in three-dimensional space from the target. In some embodiments, the application processor is configured to adjust parameters of the digital interface in response to the fact that a copy of the predefined number sequence is not correlated with the predefined number sequence of the predetermined number of iterations. In some embodiments, the sensor and the application processor are part of the same integrated circuit die.

According to one embodiment, a gesture sensor device comprises: a random number generator configured to generate a random number sequence; a first in first out (FIFO) memory configured to store the random number sequence of a predefined number of iterations; A digital interface configured to send the random number sequence of the predefined number of iterations stored in a FIFO memory to an application processor and to store the random number sequence from the random number generator in the FIFO memory in response to a verify command from the application processor And a master logic unit.

In some embodiments, the gesture sensor device includes an RF device configured to transmit an incident RF signal to a target and receive a reflected RF signal indicative of information about a gesture of the target in three-dimensional space from the target, , And further includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts the information about the gesture into a sensor sample. In some embodiments, the master logic unit is also configured to turn off the RF device in response to receiving the verify command from the application processor. In some embodiments, the master logic unit is also configured to route the output of the first ADC of the ADC to the FIFO memory, wherein the FIFO memory is coupled to the first ADC when the output of the first ADC is coupled to the FIFO memory Lt; / RTI > In some embodiments, the gesture sensor device further comprises a multiplexer coupled to the ADC and the random number generator, wherein the multiplexer is responsive to a select command from the master logic unit to cause the random number generator and the ADC to be coupled to the FIFO memory Respectively. In some embodiments, the ADC is configured to add a prefix to the sensor samples. In some embodiments, the random number generator is also configured to add a prefix to the random number sequence. In some embodiments, the random number generator is a linear feedback shift register (LFSR). In some embodiments, the random number sequence is an M-sequence, and the LFSR is configured to generate the M-sequence. In some embodiments, the LFSR has a property polynomial that is a primitive polynomial. In some embodiments, the random number sequence has a first length, the FIFO memory has a second length, and the second length is a multiple of the first length. In some embodiments, the master logic unit is a microcontroller.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, the description is not to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the exemplary embodiments and other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover any such modifications or embodiments.

Claims (22)

A method for verifying a sensor system,
Accessing a predefined numeric sequence in an application processor;
Receiving, from a sensor of the sensor system, a verification sequence having the predetermined number of repetitions of the predetermined number sequence;
Correlating the verification sequence with the predefined sequence of numbers;
Counting the number of correlations between the predefined sequence of numbers and the verification sequence;
And adjusting the parameters of the sensor or the application processor in response to the predetermined number of iterations being not equal to the number of correlations
Sensor system verification method.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein correlating the verification sequence with the predefined numeric sequence comprises correlating the verification sequence and the predefined sequence of numbers with an autocorrelation function
Sensor system verification method.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein counting the number of correlations includes counting the number of peaks generated by the autocorrelation function
Sensor system verification method.
The method according to claim 1,
The verification sequence is received from the sensor via a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus
Sensor system verification method.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein adjusting the parameter of the sensor or the application processor comprises adjusting an SPI bus parameter of the sensor
Sensor system verification method.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein adjusting the parameter of the sensor or the application processor comprises adjusting an SPI bus parameter of the application processor
Sensor system verification method.
As a sensor system,
A sensor configured to generate a predefined sequence of numbers and transmit the predefined sequence of numbers over a digital interface;
Receiving a predefined number sequence of the predetermined number of repetitions through the digital interface; accessing a copy of the predefined sequence of numbers; and transmitting a copy of the predefined sequence of numbers to a predetermined And an application processor for correlating the number of repetitions with the predefined sequence of numbers
Sensor system.
8. The method of claim 7,
The sensor includes an RF device configured to transmit an incident RF signal to a target and receive a reflected RF signal representing information about the gesture of the target in three dimensional space from the target
Sensor system.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the application processor is configured to adjust parameters of the digital interface in response to the fact that a copy of the predefined sequence of numbers is not correlated with the predefined number sequence of the predetermined number of iterations
Sensor system.
8. The method of claim 7,
The sensor and the application processor are part of the same integrated circuit die
Sensor system.
A gesture sensor device,
A random number generator configured to generate a random number sequence;
A first in first out (FIFO) memory configured to store the random number sequence of a predefined number of iterations,
A digital interface coupled to the FIFO memory and configured to send the random number sequence of the predefined number of iterations stored in the FIFO memory to an application processor;
And a master logic unit configured to store the random number sequence from the random number generator to the FIFO memory in response to a verify command from the application processor
Gesture sensor device.
12. The method of claim 11,
An RF device configured to transmit an incident RF signal to a target and receive a reflected RF signal indicative of information about a gesture of the target in three dimensional space from the target;
Further comprising an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the RF device for converting the information about the gesture into a sensor sample
Gesture sensor device.
13. The method of claim 12,
The master logic unit may also be configured to turn off the RF device in response to receiving the verify command from the application processor
Gesture sensor device.
13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the master logic unit is further configured to route the output of the first ADC of the ADC to the FIFO memory, wherein the FIFO memory stores sensor samples from the first ADC when the output of the first ADC is coupled to the FIFO memory doing
Gesture sensor device.
13. The method of claim 12,
And a multiplexer coupled to the ADC and the random number generator, wherein the multiplexer is configured to couple one of the random number generator and the ADC to the FIFO memory in response to a select command from the master logic unit
Gesture sensor device.
13. The method of claim 12,
The ADC is configured to add a prefix to the sensor samples
Gesture sensor device.
12. The method of claim 11,
The random number generator may also be configured to add a prefix to the random number sequence
Gesture sensor device.
12. The method of claim 11,
The random number generator is a linear feedback shift register (LFSR)
Gesture sensor device.
19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein the random sequence is an M-sequence and the LFSR is configured to generate the M-sequence
Gesture sensor device.
19. The method of claim 18,
The LFSR has a property polynomial, which is a primitive polynomial.
Gesture sensor device.
12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the random number sequence has a first length, the FIFO memory has a second length, and the second length is a multiple of the first length
Gesture sensor device.
12. The method of claim 11,
The master logic unit is a microcontroller
Gesture sensor device.

Images